Zielgruppenanpassung in der Technischen Fachübersetzung

This research investigates audience adaptation in technical translation, focusing on user manuals with diverse user backgrounds. Translators play a crucial role in bridging communication gaps by not only considering linguistic aspects but also tailoring texts to the target audience's needs, knowledge, and cultural differences. A corpus analysis of German user manuals from various manufacturers explores translation patterns and strategies. The study aims to identify changes that make manuals more accessible to a broad audience. Fifteen user manuals in German and English are compared, revealing consistent translator interventions. Results indicate active translator involvement beyond linguistic translation, emphasizing the importance of considering cultural, social, and functional aspects. Translators emerge as facilitators of cross-cultural communication, breaking down language barriers and ensuring successful communication in multilingual environments.